The Bathurst Regional Council is investigating the potential for a point-to-point bike hire service in the city.

ABC Central West: Melanie Pearce

A point-to-point bike hire scheme at Bathurst on the New South Wales central tablelands is being touted as a key step to making the regional city one of the most bicycle-friendly communities in Australia.

The Bathurst Regional Council is looking to develop the city as a cycling hub, after finishing the $1.5 million BMX track early this year, which is only one of two Olympic-standard facilities of its kind in Australia.

The council is in talks with a company which would look at setting up hire stations around the city's bicycle path network.

Rail trails, which involved converting disused rail corridors into cycling paths, have been growing in popularity across much of regional New South Wales and were often touted as a way of boosting tourism.

Such projects have also drawn opposition from people concerned about biosecurity and those pushing to have old rail lines reopened for commuter or freight purposes.

But the Bathurst Regional Council was looking to develop opportunities within the city itself, and Councillor Greg Westman said many visitors had indicated they would like a point-to-point bike hire scheme.

He said it would set the city apart from other regional centres and further unleash its tourism potential.

"Some of the information we've gathered through our tourist information centre over the years, and certainly in our cycling community, is that cycling tourism would be something that people would look at if the facilities were here," Cr Westman said.

"This is just another feather in the cap and another option for people to be able to come to Bathurst."

Optimism about regional economic and social benefits

Ashley Bland from Greening Bathurst said other, larger Australian cities had rolled out such a scheme and that it would boost mobility for both tourists and residents.

"Particularly for people who, perhaps, are financially stressed, but even just for people as a fitness and way of getting around and convenience," Mr Bland said.

"We're sort of carving for ourselves a bit of a niche as a town that like riding bikes. My little saying for bikes is 'fast enough to get somewhere and slow enough to see it'.

"You have that socialisation, that connection to the environment on a bike that you really miss out on in cars, and I think more and more people are clocking onto that."

But Mr Bland said the council should also prioritise building more cycle ways in Bathurst, particularly between the city's centre and the outlying suburbs and villages.

"I would love to see more connectivity for bikes between the satellite centres," he said.

"The biggest things that prevents, I think, a lot of people from riding is fear of traffic and it would be great to get the bikes off the road and get people fit and mobile."

Question over popularity of cycling in tablelands climate

But the scheme has raised some scepticism, with Councillor Monica Morse calling for further investigations into issues surrounding the provision of helmets.

She said a full business case was needed to determine whether a bike hire scheme would be profitable.

"I'm all for making Bathurst more attractive to tourists, but I think if you're going to promote bike hire there are various other aspects that you need," Cr Morse said.

"It's caused a lot of problems in Melbourne, because either you can go to the nearest newsagent or store and buy a cheap helmet for $10, or you can hire one from the bike hire systems, but a lot of people don't want to use a helmet that's been used by somebody else.

"If you're a tourist, say you're a mum and dad with two children, you end up with four helmets that you really don't know what to do with, so the helmets are the big issue."

Cr Morse also expressed concerns the region's cold climate during winter would potentially hamper the popularity of such a scheme.

"You just don't see people on bikes in Bathurst in the winter, it's not a bike-friendly climate in the winter," she said.

"The examples that the company gave were Brisbane and Coffs Harbour, or somewhere like that, where it's all beautifully warm and sunny for a lot of the year, and it's not that in Bathurst.

"It wouldn't have thought we would have got any money at all from hiring bikes in the last month, it's just too cold."

Cr Westman said while cold and wet weather would always deter people from riding bicycles, he was confident the region's climate was suitable for cycling tourism.

"I don't think the weather would be too big a deterrent," he said.

"Melbourne is an extremely cold climate down there and quite windy through the centre of town and it's quite a successful venture."

The council was now preparing to further looking at ways of implementing the scheme and potentially entering a partnership with a bike hire firm.